Jamie Dinan

Khris Middleton feels appreciated by the Bucks’ management team and hopes to play in Milwaukee beyond his current deal, he told Michael Scotto of The Athletic. Middleton has two years and $26MM remaining on his contract, with a player option in that final year. During the process in which Mike Budenholzer was hired as head coach, Middleton andGiannis Antetokounmpo were invited to a breakfast with the ex-Hawks coach.

“They want me to be there long-term. They brought it to my attention that they wanted me to be a part of the process,” Middleton said. “That’s a huge thing for me. It makes me feel comfortable. It makes me want to be there longer.”

Some other nuggets from Scotto’s story:

Budenholzer will emphasize player and ball movement over isolation plays. That should help take some of the scoring burden off of Antetokounmpo and Middleton.

Co-owner Jamie Dinan is impressed by the way Budenholzer takes responsibility for a team’s success or failure. “He basically said a poor coach blames his players,” Dinan said. “He says, ‘I think I can get the most out of my players, and you’d be amazed at how good, if you motivate people, that they can actually be.’”

Middleton has toured the team’s new arena, slated to open next season, and gives it a big thumbs up. “It’s top-notch and first class. The locker rooms are amazing,” he said. “I gave Peter Feigin, our president, a little bit of grief about the visiting locker rooms being nice, too. They can’t be this nice in the arena.”

The Bucks’ general manager search, conducted after John Hammond‘s departure for Orlando, appeared to take some unexpected twists and turns throughout the process — the club reportedly narrowed its options to three candidates, then opted to promote Jon Horst, who hadn’t been one of those three finalists.

In an interesting piece for ESPN.com, Brian Windhorst and Zach Lowe detail the machinations behind Horst’s promotion, which caught even Horst himself off guard. Sources tell Windhorst and Lowe that the GM job was already earmarked for him when he was called to New York to meet with team ownership, even before he knew he was viewed as a candidate. The Bucks then began planning Horst’s introductory news conference before he signed his deal.

Here are more of the highlights from ESPN’s report on the Bucks’ unique search:

Bucks assistant GM Justin Zanik, who has since left the organization, was considered Hammond’s successor when he joined the franchise and had built a good relationship with head coach Jason Kidd. Although his contract didn’t explicitly state he’d replace Hammond, his annual salary reflected an anticipated increase in his decision-making power, per ESPN. However, only two of Milwaukee’s three co-owners were on board with a promotion for Zanik — Wes Edens was the holdout, and wanted to conduct a full-fledged search, according to Windhorst and Lowe.

After going through their search process, Edens still wasn’t sold on Zanik. He was outnumbered 2-1 by co-owners Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan, but Edens is technically the Bucks’ designated governor, which gives him unilateral power on all basketball-related decisions if he chooses to wield it, per ESPN.

The three co-owners had previously agreed to settle all decisions with a vote, but this situation revealed that Edens ultimately could have the final say, even if he was outnumbered. In two years, that will change, however — the Bucks’ ownership agreement calls for the governorship role to alternate between Edens and Lasry every five years, per ESPN.

With the search for a new GM having stalled, commissioner Adam Silver suggested the Bucks ought to consider Danny Ferry for the opening, according to ESPN. Milwaukee reached out to Ferry, but the two sides never had a formal meeting, with the Bucks’ co-owners opting instead to reach a compromise — they all liked and respected Horst, and brokered an agreement to promote him for the role.

Horst will be inexpensive compared to other general managers around the NBA. According to Windhorst and Lowe, his three-year deal starts at just $500K.

The Bucks continue to seek a veteran executive to complement Horst in the front office, though the three co-owners will likely all have to agree to move forward with a hire.

A strong belief exists within the Lakers organization that the team will keep Byron Scott, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, nonetheless revealing that next season is a team option on Scott’s contract. Still, too much discord exists within Lakers ownership for a consensus to form on a coaching change, sources tell Wojnarowski. Primary owner Jeanie Buss is advocating for Scott behind the scenes, and Scott has a “major chance” to remain in his job, one source told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.

See more coaching rumors around the NBA with the regular season having come to a close:

Carmelo Anthony would prefer the Knicks hire Tom Thibodeau as coach, a source close to Anthony insisted to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Team president Phil Jackson doesn’t seem to have any interest in Thibodeau, as Isola points out, and strong indications exist that Thibodeau is looking for player personnel power as he seeks a coaching job, sources tell Chris Mannix of The Vertical (Twitter link).

Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry publicly backed coach Jason Kidd on Wednesday in the wake of rumors that Kidd is on shaky ground with the team, as Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays. Lasry said it’s reasonable to assume the team will give Kidd an extension on the three-year, $15MM contract that expires after next season, Gardner notes. Lasry has long been close to Kidd, and it’s the other owners to whom Kidd hasn’t endeared himself, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times wrote this week, but Gardner indicates that fellow primary owners Wesley Edens and Jamie Dinan made it clear Wednesday that they also want Kidd to stay. “At the end of the day, Jason is our coach,” Lasry said. “I know there’s been a bunch of articles. We think he’s done a great job. He’s our guy. Everybody who keeps talking about it, it’s a non-issue. I never understand why in this league you have these issues.”

Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Nets interim coach Tony Brown are unlikely to have their interim tags removed, barring unforeseen events, according to Berger. Rockets candidate Scott Brooks is wary of the uncertainty about whether Dwight Howard will opt out, Berger writes, which suggests that it’s not an open-and-shut case that Howard will opt out as he’s long been expected to do.

The Pistons have an agreement on a trade with the Celtics, while they join the Pacers and Rockets with interest in taking Chase Budinger off Minnesota’s hands. The trade market is heating up as the start of the regular season draws near, and here’s more on Detroit’s rivals from the Eastern Conference:

The Bucks quietly added hedge fund manager Jamie Dinan to their ownership team in July, reports Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Dinan is a “substantial investor” in the franchise, though it’s not clear if his stake is equal to that of controlling owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry. Seven additional new owners have bought shares of the Bucks, the team announced, and one of them is Jon Hammes, who was rumored to be in the running for a minority share this spring. Just how much of the team Hammes and the other new owners purchased is unknown.

Shannon Brown is indeed a favorite to make the Heat‘s opening-night roster in spite of his non-guaranteed deal, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Brown says team president Pat Riley has praised his athleticism, toughness and defense, as Jackson notes.